


for love or duty (or maybe both)

by volunteer_of_hufflepuff



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Duty, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Love, M/M, Your Parents Can Be Wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 01:36:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14153853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/volunteer_of_hufflepuff/pseuds/volunteer_of_hufflepuff
Summary: Love and duty; the two principles Alec Lightwood has built his life on.Love of his family - in particular, his siblings.Duty to his people - to protect everyone, to fold to the Clave laws.Perhaps, instead of being yet another Shadowhunter who follows a misguided sense of duty into a political marriage, Alec Lightwood will revolutionise his world with his very much romantic relationship with the esteemed warlock, Magnus Bane.It is a combination of love and duty, after all.(A.k.a Malec's story told with the themes love and duty, and how, sometimes, both is possible.)





	for love or duty (or maybe both)

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like this :)
> 
> This is my first work for this fandom (though I've been an avid reader leaving a multitude of comments in my wake for months) so, hopefully, it is interesting.
> 
> This was inspired by a book called _For Love or Duty_ which was on my grandfather's shelf of books bought for the aesthetic from England - and it is so obscure I haven't been able to locate it again, but I remember the gist of the opening line: that singly, or doubly, love and duty have been the principles which human society has been built on for eternity.
> 
> Again, enjoy!

__

_"It is said, that both the emotion of love and the sense of duty have propelled Shadowhunters forward throughout the generations - but that is only if either is not misplaced."_

\- Henry Branwell

\\./

_~ for this is me, and I am not going to change ~_

/.\

_if aught but death part thee and me_

...

Here, it was quiet. A breath of fresh air - and wasn't it ironic that, after he'd spent the last day outside fighting demons with his new parabatai, that it was the Institute's library which allowed him to finally breathe. 

No one else was here. Everyone else had meetings or training, or - in the case of Jace, Alec thought, with an irrational spike of jealousy, snogging the new transfer from the Dubai Institute.

A puff of dust swirled into the air as Alec's finger brushed a particularly striking book.

It was a deep, emerald green, with gold leaf spiralling up and down the spine in elegant loops. Picking it up, Alec noticed that there was no author or date inscribed in the book; instead, all there was was a title done in looping calligraphic; For Love or Duty.

Fascinated, Alec flipped the book open to its opening page. 

And, as the beautiful, quaint words sunk in, it spoke to his very soul, echoing the values that he treasured the most.

Making sure that no one was here, he fished a pencil out of his pocket and softly marked in Alec Lightwood before tucking it into his pocket. He didn't get much, but this book seemed alright. Hopeful, even. Maybe it could be something which he could call his own.

Perhaps he could learn to ignore who he wanted to love for the sake of duty and his family that he already loved.

Perhaps.

(Or maybe he wouldn't have to learn how to do the impossible.)

...

_"We're going to a Downworlder's rave. You should be a little more excited."_

_"It's a mission, not a party."_  

...

Jace may be his official parabatai, but, Raziel, how much he wished that Izzy had wanted one. And then he'd have his intelligent and sensible sister instead of the buffoon Jace had turned into recently, courtesy of Clary.

Especially after the day they had just had - chasing around bloody Clary Fray, because  _oh look how pretty she is_ , Alec was tempted to stab Jace. With a sharp blade. Deeply.

Unfortunately, that was illegal and would probably cause himself some pain too because, you know, the parabatai thing.

The vampires - oh, had that been fun, Jace skirting around the Clave laws yet again in a way that was only ever blamed on Alec - and now this.

They were luring Magnus Bane out with a necklace that he had purchased decades ago for Camille Belcourt in order to retrieve precious Clary's memories, because, of course, that was an urgent task.

Not like the Institute had been holding onto this necklace for something vital, not something as pointless and stupid as this.

He hated this. But they were his family, and he couldn't just abandon them.

(And maybe Alec was beginning to realise that, sometimes, love came before duty. If that love came from that duty.)

...

_"I did my best, Jace."_

_"Then maybe your mother was right, and your best just isn't good enough."_

...

He had only known Clary Fray for a handful of days and she had already irreversibly upturned his world.

If only she could listen to anyone else except herself for once in her life. Excluding Jace, of course.

Preferably  _not running away_ when he looked away from her for one second would be a good place to start.

So would Jace not constantly taking the side of a girl he barely knew over his parabatai.

It stung.

Like there were rocks plummeting into a chasm that had just recently been opened inside of him, the lava bubbling down below taking the strikes in the most painful way possible. Scissoring his insides, leaving behind a multitude of cuts that the lava ate away at.

He was trying to follow the law.

He was trying, but he kept on falling, and maybe it was because his loyalty to Jace was holding him back.

Maybe he should cut him.

Jace clearly didn't care about Alec even an inch as much as Alec did about him.

(But the world was unfair, and Alec never got what he wanted.)

...

 _"Really?_ _I have followed every rule._ _I've given up everything!_

_"We'll find a way out of this."_

_"Screw the rules. Screw them. Screw all of this."_

...

He'd thought it would be more exhilarating, more electrifying the first time he so blatantly disobeyed his parents.

Sure, it was exciting - but he didn't feel guilty in the slightest.

Not when he got to help save someone's life; no matter if they were a werewolf or not, no one deserved to die. And Shadowhunters were supposed to be the protectors of everyone; themselves, mundanes and Downworlders alike.

"Take my strength," Alec had told Magnus, offering his hand without a second thought.

Then Magnus had collapsed against him, having almost driven himself to the brink in order to pull someone else back from it. If Alec hadn't decided to come, who knows what might've happened?

The flirting - no matter his external reaction, it was nice. Nice but confusing. He couldn't - he wasn't allowed to - why was Magnus _doing_ this to him?

The cocktail drilled holes into his throat, stinging and not in the good way that Izzy harped on about so, yes, he winced.

(And Magnus didn't seem to mind his mistake. Not like his parents would have, anyhow.)

"You've unlocked something in me," Magnus said bluntly after talking about how he was being coy, not cryptic - now all traces of coyness were gone, with Magnus looking at Alec in a way which he was not used to; it wasn't unpleasant, per se, but unwanted. At least, he shouldn't want this type of attention from a man, let alone a warlock.

When his cell phone rang, he had never been more grateful to have his mother order him around.

His heart wanted to try this spark out, to reciprocate and flirt and be himself for once in his life.

(Though he stayed, he didn't comply with his own deepest wishes.)

For he knew that, as a loyal Shadowhunter, as a man of service to the world, he couldn't have what he wanted.

(No matter how much.)

...

_"I'm a guy who's about to be disowned when Dad finds out that Jace and Clary are still out doing God knows what."_

...

Was it unfair that Jace got to do whatever he wanted with whoever he wanted simply because he had the privilege to be born straight?

Not particularly.

One day without having to make sure that Clary didn't accidentally kill herself would be nice.

But they didn't live in a fair world.

So Alec flirted with the police officer - and, Raziel, if that wasn't awkward he didn't know what was - and tried to not think how much it hurt that his siblings could choose love (and not love, necessarily, but passion and a chance at happiness), whilst he consistently had to choose duty not only for himself but to also make up for their own stupid mistakes.

But he did out of love.

(But not for love.)

...

_"That reaction time was abysmal. Except for you."_

_..._

Lydia possessed a sense of duty that Alec admired.

He'd forgotten that it existed outside of himself, to be honest, in the whirlwind that had been his life recently.

She could be a stone for him that followed the rules.

(Not the stone he so desperately wanted to lean on who made his heart race.)

 ...

_"You shouldn't have had to find out your parents were ex-Circle members."_

...

His parents had been part of the Circle.

All his life, he had been building his code of conduct upon what his parents had told him.

His parents had berated him so many times for so many tiny infractions, and they had been with Valentine?

Punching was repetitive. It built up his muscles too, so technically he was training, technically he was being productive.

Unfortunately, he couldn't punch his parents.

How could they - Valentine - his mind just wouldn't  _shut up_.

Magnus swept into the room, a file clasped in his hand.

"Magnus," Alec said, breathing heavily as he stopped the punching bag.

Magnus blinked. "Ok, I'm back."

Alec just raised his eyebrows, walking past him to pick up his shirt.

Magnus rolled his eyes. "Oh, you don't have to get dressed up for me."

Alec shrugged on his shirt.

"Fine," Magnus said, sounding oddly disappointed. "But I liked what I saw."

Oh. More flirting.

Alec tried to not think about how soothing and simply nice it was to have someone be interested in him as a person, not as a name.

"I have the preliminary autopsy findings." Magnus handed the file to Alec, who looked up at him in confusion.

"Why are you giving them to me? This should go the Head of the Institute."

 _Which I will never be,_ Alec thought bitterly,  _because of my parents' failures._

And throughout the conversation - in particular, when Magnus had suggested that he should follow his heart and Alec had agreed - Alec tried to not think about how much he liked Magnus (and not just in the appropriate, business-like manner) and how his world had finally stopped spinning when Magnus spoke to him, smooth and encouraging in a way he had forgotten existed.

But he had a duty.

And that came before any person, no matter how intriguing they may be.

(Or that is what he told his beating heart as Magnus left the training room.)

... 

_"This is about family, tradition, honour-"_

_"Honour?_   _Where's the honour in living a lie?"_

...

He was doing the right thing.

If he ignored Izzy's pointed looks, and Jace's pitiful one, or, worse still, Magnus' hurt yet still hopeful one - it was easy to believe.

There was nothing new or revolutionary about political marriages between Shadowhunters.

Nothing wrong with it either.

Even if he was dooming himself to a life of unhappiness.

It was his sacrifice so that his siblings would lead - well, not unburdened lives - but one without the constant pressure of having to live up to the Lightwood name, to maintain and repair it - for his status as the oldest automatically gave him that position.

Unwanted though it may have been, it was one he could not afford to pass on.

Better him than Izzy, who would, as a female, be in a much worse position than he. Their society had come a long way, but sexism had not truly died yet.

(Also better him than Izzy, who meant everything whereas he meant nothing.)

Better him than Jace, who still had the possibility to find a suitable match -  _a girl,_ his mind whispered, _a shadowhunter_ \- and to fall in love, who didn't have to live with the fact that who he might love would 'tarnish the Lightwood name'.

Better him than Max, who was still so young and who would have no say, and may even think it was normal.

His life being ruined was better than any of his siblings being so much as tainted.

And what was he going on about, anyway? He was lucky. He'd have a good career and his future wife was a good and likeable person.

Not every Shadowhunter was so  _lucky._

(Not every Shadowhunter was so  _unlucky,_ either.)

\\./.\\./.\\./

Faltering was not an option in his line of work.

He could not waver, wasn't allowed to step off the impossibly narrow line of duty - for  _the law is hard, but it is the law_ \- but, with Magnus Bane - someone who had been interested in him, for once, the silver to Izzy and Jace's blinding gold - standing stoically at the end of the aisle at Alec's wedding, all sense of loyalty to the Clave flew out of his mind.

His lungs constricted. His duties -  _misguided, misplaced,_ a voice whispered in his head that sounded uncannily like Magnus - were lodged in his throat awkwardly.

He turned to Lydia. "I can't breathe," he said bluntly, in the only way he knew how to express his emotions.

Lydia whispered, 'I know, it's ok', but it  _wasn't_ ok. What kind of Shadowhunter was he if he couldn't control his own damn emotions?

But, seeing Magnus stand so defiantly in front of so many people who were part of a group who had degraded him for centuries, all for Alec - it hardened Alec's resolve, that this marriage was  _not_ the right thing to do.

It wasn't fair to Lydia, it wasn't fair to Magnus and it certainly wasn't fair to himself to continue on carrying out this facade to fix the fallen reputations of parents who couldn't care less about Alec.

"I can't do this," he confessed, breathing heavily. "I thought we were doing the right thing, but this isn't it." 

Lydia placed her hand gently on his arm. "You don't have to explain."

"Lydia, I'm sorry." And he was. That he had let his parents' wishes drive him this far into denial, into submission.

"Hey, you deserve to be happy," said Lydia, laughing lightly and a little sadly. "Okay? I'll be fine."

The shaky emphasis on  _fine_ didn't fool Alec, but he could see how much worse it would be if he didn't turn away.

Gathering up his resolve, he turned to face Magnus and started to march down the aisle, finally backtracking over his parents' wishes with his own.

His mother glared at him. "Alec, what are you doing?" she snarled, acting as if she had any say over her adult son's actions.

One that she had never truly supported, for that matter.

Alec didn't bother looking back, his eyes firmly fixed on Magnus. "Enough."

And then he was grabbing Magnus by his lapels and kissing him, and oh, wasn't this _amazing,_ he thought, tilting his head.

Sometimes following your heart won over following an outdated set of conduct.

(Or maybe it wasn't sometimes, but  _always_.)

...

_"You never cease to amaze me, Alec."_

_"Yeah. What did I just do?"_

...

The best thing in his life.

Alec had stood up to centuries of mistaken, horrendous prejudice, and he was going to rock his world.

If he was given the chance. The connotations of the word duty for Shadowhunters were twisted, warped - for such a beautiful, important word.

...

_"I don’t care how many people you’ve been with."  
_

_"I don’t care how many people you haven’t been with."_

...

This was nice.

There wasn't the same, intense pressure on them that there had been at the wedding. It was warm, like the sun dappling the ground on an autumn afternoon, welcome and peaceful.

Alec could taste the spike of alcohol on Magnus' lips, and he was sure Magnus could taste bitter beer on his own, but he didn't care. Never before had he felt so free, so light, so at peace.

Magnus had given him so much; Alec wasn't used to receiving anything at all. Maybe he'd buy something for Magnus - and his heart leapt - on their next date.

Magnus was right. This was amazing, and he never wanted it to stop. It was not love - yet, but it had the potential to be.

(And perhaps, with the memory of Magnus playing pool and kissing him, Alec could get through their chaotic world and complete his duties.)

...

_"You continue to surprise me."_

_"In good ways, I hope."_

...

He loved Jace, he really did, but the urge to throw him out onto the curb was becoming overwhelming.

He was at his boyfriend's loft after an amazing evening in Tokyo and he really just wanted to kiss Magnus, but his damn brother apparently couldn't control himself.

Such a horrible guest.

Thank the Angel that Magnus put on that music.

(Sometimes, love conflicts with love.)

...

_"How would you feel about throwing a party?"_

_"Have you met me?"_

...

Duty entwined with love (not yet, nearly there but not quite there just yet).

It was exhilarating, amazing, seeing his brother's rune party being held at his boyfriend's loft.

Even if his mother was being an insensitive, tactless idiot, at least she was trying.

And that was more than he could say of his father.

(Maybe love didn't have to conflict with - almost - love.)

...

_"Alec, Alec, no! What are you doing? You're scaring me..."_

...

Standing on that ledge, all he had to do was step back.

Step back, and the heavy chain made out of duty resting on his shoulders would be banished from this world forever.

(And so would Alec, and wouldn't that be awful for those he loved.)

...

_"Alexander, I know things might seem bleak, but nothing was as devastating as seeing you standing on that ledge."_

_"I would never, never-"_

_"I know, I know. But magic can't create fears, only bring them out."_

...

It's odd seeing someone who isn't obligated to care for him care for him.

It's not that Alec likes seeing Magnus scared - not at all. But it is surprising, in a slightly pleasant way, that, yes, someone is choosing to care for him.

(And maybe even to love him.)

...

_"This is my family. If you had told me about the yin fen, none of this would have happened."_

_"I didn't know."_

_"You knew enough."_

...

It's odd having his familial love and his romantic - not yet - love truly clash for the first time.

Magnus - well, any potential boyfriend, to be perfectly honest - clashing with his parents was to be excepted.

But...

Rationally, Alec knew that Magnus wasn't at fault here.

But seeing Izzy, his little sister, who he had sworn to always, always protect, no matter what, in such a dangerous position?

Perhaps -

If -

If his budding love for Magnus strangled his love for his sister, he'd cut Magnus.

At this stage at least.

Maybe.

(Could he?)

...

_"Look, Magnus, on every mission I've ever been on I've never felt that type of fear before. Ever. Not knowing if you were alive or dead, I - I was terrified."_

_"So was I."_

...

It was undeniable, now.

The words had left his mind and entered reality, tangible instead of - maybe, maybe he's falling too fast, too much, too soon.

But Magnus had said it back.

Magnus loves him too.

And shouldn't that be enough?

It is. This love is terrifying but it is so much more wonderful than it is frightening.

If only it won't get in the way of his duty, Alec will be fine.

(But he doesn't live in an ideal world.)

...

_"How did he get loose, he's been shackled for centuries..."_

_"Who, Magnus?"_

...

Azazel.

He has been killing people like rolling pins.

And, oh, where is Izzy -

She's out there alone, she was probably captured by him -

Or worse.

(Maybe this time, he'll have to use his duty to save his love.)

...

 _"That agony rune made me relive memories I've spent centuries trying to forget._ "

_"Magnus, tell me how to fix this. Just tell me what to do. Please."_

 ...

Why didn't Alec listen to himself?

Why did he listen to Imogen Herondale instead, of all people?

_Because of Valentine. Because of his reputation._

Did he really love Magnus if he couldn't recognise him in the body of another, if he couldn't feel the familiar, welcoming hum of his soul?

He did.

He had.

Alec had nearly killed Magnus.

Oh, God.

He'd grovel to Magnus; not out of fear, never out of fear, but out of endless love as well as disgust towards himself.

(His duty had almost killed his love.)

Could he ever forgive himself?

(Could Magnus ever forgive Alec?)

...

_"I mean you, Alec Lightwood, are now the Head of the New York Institute."_

...

Alec had been made a leader. Of his people, the Nephilim.

And he had an amazing boyfriend who he kind of had to apologise to as soon as possible for being a jerk.

But this promotion was - was ethereal. It was everything he had been working for his whole life, everything he had thought that he had lost that day he had chosen love over duty.

Perhaps... he could have both.

(Maybe love and duty could co-exist.)

...

_"No, I need you there, but as a warlock representative, not as my boyfriend. Is that ok?"_

_"Of course. It's best that we keep our personal and professional lives separate."_

_"Thank you."_

...

It was for the best.

Really.

Duty and love should be separate - if he entwined them, wouldn't it be a dreadful contradiction which would implode on itself?

His mind whispered yes.

(His heart screamed no.)

...

_"Look, I know you well enough to know something's going on."_

_"Alexander, I'm fine."_

...

Magnus is suffering, and he isn't letting Alec help him.

When Magnus is in pain, so is he.

He wants to be let in.

He wants to help.

But he can't if Magnus blocks him.

(But at least Magnus hasn't let him go completely.)

...

_"I never wanted you to see this terrible, ugly side of me, of my past."_

_"Hey. There's nothing ugly about you."_

...

Nothing about Magnus was ugly.

(Their love could be terrifying. But never ugly.)

Love was powerful.

(So was duty.)

But duty had a dark side. His love for Magnus didn't.

(Magnus deserved the world.)

Alec didn't know what he wouldn't sacrifice for Magnus.

(Duty?)

...

_"Lost track of time?"_

_"I missed dinner, didn't I?"_

_"Only by a couple of hours."_

...

Alec loved other people but never before had it been so fast, so pure, so consuming. And never romantically.

And when he put it like that, it made it sound like he was a desperate teenager. It wasn't. He wasn't.

Magnus was Magnus. And Alec was Alec. And they slot together like puzzle pieces, familiar yet different - but always complementing.

Always in love.

(Hopefully following his father's word wouldn't cost him that.)

/.\

_"He would've told me if he knew. He would never keep something this important from me."_

\\./

He should have told Magnus.

Magnus has probably found out by now, anyway, the Downworlders aren't idiots-

And after a discussion about trust of all things.

Alec should have followed love, not duty.

(But he had listened to his father, he had tried to preserve something - the Clave - that had never tried to preserve him.)

Oh no.

This wasn't going to end well.

...

_"And after I bared my heart and soul. I told you things I've never told anyone."_

...

Oh.

Oh no.

He should have thrown his duty out of the window, no matter how important it was to him.

(Anything to save his love.)

...

_"Magnus! I know I have no right to ask you for favours. But I need you. It's Max."_

...

Magnus came.

Alec didn't deserve Magnus' comfort, didn't deserve Magnus' love, not after what he did.

(But he needed it.)

...

_"We can figure this out."_

_"You once asked me what I was afraid of. It's this."_

...

For the first time since the wedding, he'd done something his father had asked him to do.

It shouldn't be a surprise that it backfired so badly.

And, oh, having his love not just dropped from him but ripped away from him had shrivelled his heart; it had almost ceased to beat.

When he had forsaken his duty, for the first time, instead of repressing his chance for romantic love, he had felt lighter than air, as if he was flying.

Now his wings had been ripped from him without restraint.

If this was what duty was like now, he didn't want any part of it.

(He just wanted Magnus back.)

...

_"I'll seal the rift. But not because of you or the Shadowhunters. Because it'll save lives."_

...

Now it's Magnus who is sacrificing love for the sake of duty.

(And, oh, how much it cuts at him to be on the opposite side.)

...

_"He's raised the Angel."_

_"Magnus, you need to get to safety."_

...

Does it matter that Magnus can't even look at him anymore, that his mere presence is pressing salt into a weeping wound because if he doesn't leave now, he will die.

(But Magnus doesn't go.)

 _Magnus_ , Alec pleads internally, _please don't value duty over your life._

(I love you.)

...

_"Well, I can't do anything without thinking of you."_

_"Magnus, I don't think I can live without you."_

...

Love. He has love again.

(If he has to quit his position to have Magnus again, then so be it.)

But he's lucky, he doesn't have to.

Alec can keep both.

...

_"But since I've been dismissed, I'm free to see whomever I want."_

_"Wait - dismissed? What - what happened?_

...

But -

Magnus doesn't.

Magnus - sweet, compassionate Magnus - isn't so lucky.

When Alec comes back from Idris, Magnus has been demoted.

And it's unfair and if he hadn't been such a bad boyfriend, maybe -

But Magnus doesn't seem to mind.

(Does he?)

...

_"How's Magnus doing?"_

_"Um. Great, why?"_

_"I've been so worried about him. When we spoke last night he was beside himself. Being the High Warlock meant everything to him."_

_..._

Magnus _does_ mind.

So Alec is just going to continue being as supportive as the universe can contain.

Also, some communication between the two wouldn't hurt.

(It's ok to ask for what you want, Magnus.)

In the loss of duty, love could help.

(But not fully heal.)

... 

_"Isn't that what you always dreamed of?"_

_"I always dreamed of meeting someone like you."_

_..._

Secretly, guiltily, but there had always been a small part of Alec yearning for someone to love him unconditionally, out of choice.

And now that he had found Magnus, nothing short of death - even the status he has worked his whole life for, because that is the only thing he thought he would ever be allowed to indulge in - will stop him from being with Magnus.

(Duty is being pushed aside for the sake of love, and that's ok.)

...

_"I did it."_

_"You did it?"_

_"Well, maybe I had a little help."_

...

If he could work with Magnus for the rest of his life, Alec didn't know if he would ever stop. It was fun, the perfect mixture of love and duty.

And why Magnus constantly thought that Alec would turn away from him because of something that was out of his control infuriated Alec greatly.

(But not at Magnus. At the world who made him feel so insecure.)

Everyone knew you couldn't choose your biological family, him more than anyone - and his father wasn't exactly a piece of cake either. Asmodeus? That was an impressive and unchangeable fact of life, not a blemish on Magnus himself.

Magnus wasn't perfect - no one was - but he was kind and thoughtful and all the graces of the heavens above - the irony didn't fail to strike Alec. And he deserved love, and Alec was blessed to be the one to give it to him every single day.

Wandering around the loft, after ordering Magnus _to take care of himself for once, I'll make dinner, ok?_ Alec spotted a book that he hadn't thought about in years, though its message had haunted him for so long. He didn't know, exactly, how it had turned up here, but it had probably been tucked away in one of his jackets.

 _For Love or Duty_ \- and then he noticed that it said singly, or doubly, that both were equally important - and he laughed, easily falling into the sensation that he had become so acquainted with recently.

For duty was important, but only if it was sincere. And he had let his misguided sense of duty crush all but his love of family for years in a foolish, wasteful sacrifice.

And - maybe not today, or even this month or year - Alec Lightwood was going to revolutionise the Shadow World with a beautiful fusion of the two.

When - not if, because who would not want to marry such a beautiful man - he married Magnus, not only would it be an amazing symbol of love, but it would be an unbreakable bond between the Nephilim and the Downworld.

And that, Alec realised, was what the book had been hinting at.

Love and duty were two of the most important principles of humanity - but they only mattered if they made you happy - if they were right.

And after years of waiting, of suppression of himself with cursed breath, he had let himself fall for the possibility of love.

Magnus had caught him - filling every crevice of Alec's life to make it better, brighter, lighter.

Alec had learnt a vital lesson since that day he had found that book, hidden away in the dusty library.

If your duty prevents love?

Then you've got an incorrect sense of duty.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated :)
> 
> EDIT: 2/4/18 - Wow, this response is amazing. I knew I was publishing into a bigger pool than before - but about 450 hits, 36 kudos and 3 comments (the other 3 are me replying), 7 bookmarks and 1 subscription (ok?) is very heartwarming.
> 
> So, I'd just like to say thank you for giving my writing a chance and being so lovely about it, too :)
> 
> P.S - if you spot any typos or the like, please tell me - I'm always open to _constructive_ criticism.
> 
> my [tumblr](https://mirrorofliterature.tumblr.com/).


End file.
